Trip Reports

My wife Amy and I took a little winter break trip to WDW last week and had a blast. We stayed in a studio at the Boardwalk Villas - our first use of the DVC since we joined. I'll break it up into sections:

Food:

Flying Fish Cafe - Dinner - This has become my favorite restaurant at WDW. The potato wrapped snapper was possibly the best fish dish I ever had. The crabcake appetizer was very good also. And the best of all - Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert. A freshly made small chocolate cake with a warm liquid chocolate center. I would keep going back for that!!!!

Cinderella's Character Breakfast - Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Fairy Godmother were there. All of the food was excellent - Eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese french toast. It, along with the Soundstage Restaurant in MGM, are my favorite Character Breakfasts. I can see why it is very hard to get into.

Cinderella's Royal Table - Dinner - The food was good, but overly rich. I had a shrimp and steak combo which I liked. Amy had a seafood dish with a pink mustard-like sauce. I have never seen a dish as colorful as it was, but it was also too fussy and rich. They had a very good chocolate mousse cake for dessert. It is worth going to, but we probably would not return.

Artist Point - Dinner - A very unique restaurant tucked away at the Wilderness Lodge. This was a return visit for us. Amy loves the Salmon - their signature dish. It is served on flaming cedar. I had the venison shank. I liked it because it wasn't something I normally get. I had a three glass wine paring that they offer. It allows a wine novice like me to sample different types of wine that I normally would not have the opportunity to. We really like this restaurant because you do not see a menu like this everyday. It focuses on the Pacific Northwest. Our server gave us a sample of the Bison steak and it was great. It is worth a try and will be my dinner when I return next time.

Spoodles - Breakfast - A good buffet style breakfast. Worth eating at, but unremarkable.

Yachtsman's Steakhouse - Dinner - Here is some serious steak. From the second I walked in, I knew I was in for a great steak. This is a great restaurant to break up some of the more "rich" restaurants with heavy creams and rich wine reductions. They served garlic with peppercorns to put on the delicious bread that they serve. My favorite bread of the trip (and I am a bread lover!) Amy and I both had Filets. They were delicious and perfectly prepared. They had a good wine list and the service was great. For dessert, we split the Raspberry Devastation. Another great dessert.

Alfredo's - Lunch - Probably my 7th visit here and Amy's Fourth. You must start off with the Calamari - its simply incredible here. My one complaint here is that they do not offer combination dishes, so we created our own. I got the lasagna with veal and Amy got the Fettuccini Alfredo and we shared. They have the best lasagna around, and it goes great with the Fettuccini. I just love this place.

In general, the service at all of the restaurnats was great. The servers were very knowledgable and friendly. Dining at WDW is quite possibly my favorite part of the trip.

Attractions:

I will just give some highlights here.

Space Mountain and Tower Of Terror are the BEST rides at WDW. I could ride them all day. I arrived at MGM at 8:15 for a 9:00 opening. We got to the rope drop at 8:30 and along with everyone, we made the mad dash to TOT. Much better than the normal 90 minute wait.

Hunchback Show at MGM. I like Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid better on the big screen, but live on stage The Hunchback RULES. All of the shows are good, but this one just amazes me. I like it BETTER than the movie, and I like the movie. They do such a good job on it.

Mr Toad. I had to ride it after reading all about the Toad In's. It was so average. Nothing remarkable about it. Amy and I wonder what all the fuss is about. Its not worth saving, in our opinion. (Please don't send hate mail, I just need to voice my opinion!!! I support your efforts to make a difference.)

Innoventions - Needs to be updated - BADLY!! (Although I did play SEGA for a half hour while waiting for Amy once...)

General Stuff:

There were problems with our reservation and they were not able to get the Disney Dining plan into the computer for us. This caused several trips to the front desk and long waits at the end of our meals. After 45 minutes with a very helpful CM at the Boardwalk front desk (Sean from Orlando) the problem was solved. Because they felt sorry for the inconvenience, they waived the price of our LOS passes - THATS ABOUT $400!!!!! I can have problems every trip if they give me free park passes!!!!

There were a shortage of non-smoking rooms on check in and a lot of people were pissed. I demanded one, and one appeared. Nothing is worse to a non-smoker than having to stay in a smoking room.

The whole Boardwalk - Swan - Dolphin - Yacht and Beach Club area is a beautiful place to stay. I loved walking around the area and soaking in the atmosphere.

As always, Disney transportation is adequate 90% of the time and dreadfully annoying the other 10%. I'm impatient, so take that into consideration, but they need to increase the frequency of trips to and from the parks.

I hope you have found this helpful. Please email me if you have any questions.

Scott Frey

scottamy@epix.net

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